Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
How do we return to a starting point without it seeming as though we have come back to pay a debt or resume an acquaintance, the sure-fire way is to perhaps agree that unfinished business is a part of life, that it is not so much of a return, as an exercise in continuation, the added extra bonus chapter to a much loved and admired novel that no one was expecting!
It may have been several decades since the sheer intimidating rock style of Cruzados last found its way into the public consciousness, but form nor temperament never truly fade away, the truth of graft, of persuasion, and the bold and the brass confidence will always remain, and even if the make up of the group has changed personnel wise, the structure and the musical D.N.A. remain very much intact.
In She’s Automatic co-founder Tony Marsico join forces with Ron Young, Loren Molinare, Mark Tremalgia and Rob Klonel, and with support and guest performances from the likes of The Blasters Dave Alvin, Gia Ciambotti, Melanie Vammen, Jimmy Z and Buck Johnson, and across tracks such as Across This Ghost Town, Son Of The Blues, Long Black Car, Nine Million Tears, Wing And A Prayer, and the album’s title track She’s Automatic, hat ultimately hits the listener and the grateful smiling fan is how sincere the sound is to that of the past. The 80s may be a distant foggy memory for some but for Cruzados it feels as the join is seamless.
Dedicated to those that have left us since those early days of rubbing classic rock shoulders, Cruzados understand the immense groove that was laid down by their comrades Chalo Quintana and Marshall Rohner, and it is the spirit of those two musicians that arguably weaves its way through the entire album, channelled with respect, love and outrageous fist pumping adulation by Tony Marsico and the new realm of warriors that define the group.
An album which harnesses the very best traditions of the genre whilst offering incredible depth in the face of a new century and beginning for the band. E may have all had our own crosses to bear in the last few years and decades, but in Cruzados we trust to get the ball rolling again.
Cruzados release She’s Automatic on January 28th via Deko.
Ian D. Hall